Guy sat on the kitchen table and regarded Lucy’s downcast face thoughtfully. ‘That’s bad news.’
Lucy sighed, too miserable even to resent Guy’s presence. ‘I know.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I think I’m going to have to go,’ she said. ‘It would mean breaking my contract-you know how insistent Hal was that I was here to look after Emma and Mickey-but Meredith’s talking to him now and we’re hoping that he’ll agree to her taking my place while I go back to London and see Richard.’
Guy frowned slightly. ‘Will it really make such a difference if you’re there?’
‘Meredith seems to think that it will.’ Lucy put the potatoes back into the oven and straightened, smoothing some stray hairs from her forehead with the back of her arm. ‘To be honest, I don’t want to go, but I owe Meredith a lot and if this is what she wants, then I’ll do what I can. I spoke to Richard’s mother on the phone, too. She sounded desperate, as if they’ve pinned all their hopes on me going back. How can I refuse when it means so much to them?’
Guy hesitated. ‘What about Kevin?’
‘He’ll wait for me, I hope,’ she said, her eyes sliding away from his. ‘Even if Hal doesn’t agree to keep the job open for me if Meredith stays, then I’ll get back to the outback somehow. I’m not going to just give up on my dream.’
But Hal had agreed, Meredith told her, when she came into the kitchen a little later and was introduced to Guy.
‘Now we just need to get you to Darwin,’ she told Lucy.
‘I can help you there,’ said Guy. ‘As it happens, your timing couldn’t be better.’ He told Meredith about his mother’s hip operation. ‘I need to be there,’ he said, ‘not that Ma will appreciate it! She’ll probably just tell me that I’m in the way, but I’ve chartered a plane to pick me up from the airstrip here tomorrow morning anyway. The pilot will fly me directly to Darwin, and I can pick up the London flight there. Lucy might as well come with me.’
Lucy had been listening to him with growing dismay, but Meredith’s face lightened. ‘That would be great,’ she said gratefully. ‘It means she can get home much sooner.’
‘I’m sure we can find a local flight,’ Lucy cut across her. ‘We don’t need to put Guy to any trouble.’
‘It’s no trouble,’ said Guy. ‘There’s room for another person on the plane and, as I’ve chartered it, it won’t cost any extra.’ He glanced at Lucy’s mutinous face. ‘Of course, the alternative is for Hal to drive you into Whyman’s Creek,’ he said mildly. ‘There’s a local flight to Darwin and you might be able to get a seat on it, but as Hal’s just got back from town today, he’d probably be glad not to have to drive you in again tomorrow morning.’
This was so patently true that Lucy was left with nothing to say, as Guy was no doubt perfectly aware. She could hardly insist on Hal going to all the effort of driving her into town on the off chance she would get a seat on the next flight when it had taken all Meredith’s persuasive powers to get him to agree to her leaving at all.
Raging inwardly at the workings of fate, Lucy threw her things into her rucksack the next morning. She had so been looking forward to Guy going, and to spending some time alone with Kevin-well, without Guy’s smile lurking distractingly in the background, anyway-and now here she was, leaving with him instead of waving him off with a bright smile. Spending an hour and a half alone with him on the drive back from the rodeo had been bad enough. How was she going to manage going all the way to Darwin?
They were even going to be on the same plane to London, she had discovered to her dismay. While she had been saying goodbye to Kevin, Guy had been on the phone, arranging her ticket.
‘Meredith said she would do that,’ Lucy protested when she found out, but Guy only shrugged.
‘Meredith was exhausted last night,’ he pointed out. ‘It seemed the important thing was to get you on to the first plane so I got my PA to book you on the same flight.’
At least she would only have to put up with him until they got to Darwin, Lucy consoled herself. Guy was a first class traveller if ever she saw one, and she was most definitely a budget traveller. Once they got to Darwin, he would be so coddled by special lounges and fast track service that with any luck she wouldn’t see him again after that.
But there was another shock at Darwin itself. ‘You’ve booked me in first class?’ Lucy’s voice rose to a squeak of appalled dismay.
‘It’s a long flight,’ said Guy. ‘You might as well be comfortable.’
‘Meredith told me that Richard’s parents wanted to buy my ticket home, but I’m quite sure they didn’t intend me to come first class!’ Lucy was aghast. ‘I know Richard’s father is a successful businessman, but he’s not so successful he can afford to hand out first class plane tickets.’
‘In that case, it’s lucky that I am,’ said Guy, putting a firm hand under her elbow and piloting her towards the first class check-in desk. ‘Richard’s parents can pay for your ticket back to Australia, and you can travel as economically as you like then.’
Lucy dug in her heels as she realised what he was saying and rather belatedly wrenched her arm out of his warm grasp. ‘
‘I can’t take any credit for it. My PA did all the work.’
‘But I can’t let you pay for me. I hardly know you!’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that,’ said Guy, repossessing her elbow and propelling her firmly forwards. ‘We’ve been living in the same house for the past week. You know that I like marmalade on my toast and I know that you’re not at your best in the mornings. I know how you feel about Kevin, and you know that I once wanted to be a rodeo star. Very few people know that about me, Cinders,’ he said with a gleaming smile. ‘We can’t be strangers when you know my embarrassing secret!’
‘But it’s so expensive!’ said Lucy, hanging back.
‘Lucy, I’m a rich man,’ he said patiently. ‘It won’t even be a blip in my bank account.’
And somehow Lucy found herself handing over her passport as Guy checked them both in. The bookings had been made electronically, and in no time at all she was on the plane, with none of the shuffling queues she was used to, and ensconced in a luxurious seat by the window. There was no denying that the whole process of boarding was a lot less stressful in first class.
‘Wow,’ she said, pushing her seat back and playing with all the buttons, forgetting for a moment that she was cross with Guy. ‘I’ve never been in the pointy end of a plane before. This is great!’
Guy watched her indulgently. ‘I’ve never seen anyone get so much pleasure out of an airline seat,’ he said, and Lucy flushed and stopped fiddling immediately. She was obviously being very un-cool.
‘I don’t suppose you’ve ever been at the back of the plane.’ she grumbled.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Never. I had a very privileged upbringing.’
That accounted for his assurance, anyway. Guy only had to lift an eyebrow for someone to rush to do his bidding. Lucy would love to have accused him of arrogance but she couldn’t. He was charming to everyone, and all the flight attendants, male and female, were soon fawning over him.
Lucy watched them darkly. There was no need for them to lean quite that close to him or smile quite so invitingly, surely? She might as well not have been there! They had obviously taken one look at her jeans and shirt and recognised that she wasn’t a first class traveller.
As if to disprove her, a beautifully groomed flight attendant, who made Lucy feel even scruffier than ever, leant past Guy.
‘Would you like some champagne, Miss West?’
Miss West! Champagne! Who would ever have thought that she, Lucy West, would be sitting in first class, drinking champagne?
Lucy was ashamed of the little thrill that went through her as she accepted a glass. No flight attendant had ever bothered to learn her name before. She had always just been part of the mass and, while she was perfectly happy being one of a crowd, it was undeniably nice to have all this attention.
She glanced at Guy, who obviously took all this luxury for granted. He raised his glass to her with one of those smiles that always left her feeling slightly ruffled. ‘Here’s to dreams,’ he said.
Lucy thought of Kevin, back at Wirrindago. Even she couldn’t pretend that his farewell had been emotional. ‘See you then,’ he had said as she had left. But outback men weren’t used to expressing their emotions, Lucy reminded herself. It didn’t mean her dream wouldn’t come true.
‘To dreams,’ she said with a touch of defiance and touched her glass to Guy’s. ‘May they all come true.’
‘I’ll drink to that,’ said Guy and, as their eyes met for the toast, Lucy found her gaze snared in the gleaming blue depths of his, just as it had done at the rodeo. Just as before, she felt the air shorten between them. There
